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Thursday, January 01, 2015

Hyundai Veloster Turbo Boosts Performance, Function

I had
barely made it out of Hyundai
Canada's driveway when I popped the clutch and let her fly, engine and exhaust
roaring, tires shuddering as they slipped and gripped at the asphalt of the
quiet, corporate road.

The
torque steer of front-wheel power delivery tugged at the steering wheel as the
G-forces of acceleration shoved me deeper into the sport seat. I started to
grin.

"Ah,
there you go," I muttered, patting the stick shift of the 2015 Veloster
Turbo and easing off the throttle after that brief burst of automotive hubris.

It was
pretty much the same reaction I'd had the first time I drove the turbo version,
not long after its initial unveiling for the 2013 model year.

It
takes a lot of time and effort to bring a new car to market; so automotive
manufacturers prefer not to shoot their bolt all at once.

They
tend rather to string out the release of new product over the course of the
following years, re-stoking consumer interest with follow up versions, maybe
adding a more powerful engine alternative, or by adding new technologies, new
options, new colours every year, or even by varying the lineup with entirely
new models.

Ditto
for Hyundai, the company
that brought the new Veloster compact hatchback to Canada a few years ago.

Frankly,
there wasn't anything else on the road quite like it and it drew comments for
its UFO-like, hunkered-down styling and youthful character. Early adopters
snapped them up as a unique and personal fashion statement.

Those
kinds of customers tend to focus more on form than function and the 1.6-litre
four-cylinder engine's 138 hp was probably judged as adequate to suit the style
and day-to-day commuting demands. But I think a different pool of customers,
gearheads with performance inclinations, were holding out for the engine the Veloster deserved.

And
they were rewarded a short year later with the debut of the Veloster Turbo, a
performance-oriented sibling boasting a twin-scroll turbocharged 1.6-litre
T-GDI engine rated at 201 hp and 195 lb/ft of torque.

That's
almost half as much power again, compared to the entry-level naturally
aspirated engine. And this turbo makes that power honestly, running thriftily
on regular octane fuel.

Fuel economy
doesn't take much of a hit with the turbo, returning a 9.7/7.0L/100km
(city/hwy) rating compared to the starting lineup's engine rating of
9.0/6.7L/100km (city/hwy). My real-world results from mixed driving in a
Veloster Turbo, including occasional bouts of insanity and adrenalized
acceleration, worked out to 8.4L/100km (combined).

Hyundai's lineup of regular
2015 Velosters runs the gamut of trim levels, from the base model to SE and
Tech versions. Prices range from $18,299 - $23,799. Two transmissions are
available — a standard six-speed manual gearbox or a six-speed EcoShift Dual
Clutch Transmission (DCT) ($1,400).

As
tested here, the 2015 Hyundai
Veloster Turbo starts at $26,749 and, as you'd expect from the price, along
with the added power, the Turbo comes with a longer list of included content,
items like climate control, a panoramic sunroof, Bluetooth connectivity, a 115V
AC outlet and a seven-inch touch screen showing navigation and rearview camera
images, along with an eight-speaker 450-watt Dimension audio system with
external amp and subwoofer.

The
front seats are heated and roomy enough. As in most coupes, the second row
seems an afterthought, suitable only for punishing the occasional extra
passenger.

But the
Veloster does manage one
neat trick. It is a three-door vehicle with an almost seamless, forward-hinged
third door tucked behind the passenger door. It's easy to pooh-pooh this extra
entry to rather cramped rear confines but, the fact is, the third door does
allow easier access to the second row for the stuff you normally throw in the
back seat, or even for an infant seat, which means that for young couples
starting families, the Veloster is actually a viable bridge between two-door
sportiness and four-door practicality. The view back through the split rear
window takes a little getting used to but the hatchback opens to 440 litres of
luggage room.

Along
with increased interior content, the Veloster Turbo sets itself apart from the
rest of the lineup with a bolder hexagonal front grille, sculpted side skirts
and bigger 18-inch alloy wheels.

Hyundai introduced a new
sunshine yellow colour for 2015, only available in non-turbo versions, so our
tester is resplendent in the Vitamin C shade of orange that has become the
iconic colour of Turbo models.

The
Veloster Turbo also features a rear bumper with prominent diffuser vents in the
lower fascia and with wider diameter, noisier exhaust outlets instead of the
standard Veloster's trapezoidal centre exhaust. The acceleration drama gets an
assist from an Active Sound Design system that pipes a little extra intake and
exhaust sound character into the cabin.

Our
tester came with the standard six-speed manual, a throwback bone for the
nostalgia crowd, but the more pragmatic six-speed automatic ($1,300) with
Shiftronic manual mode and steering wheel-mounted shift paddles would make much
more sense, especially in quick response to the turbo power.

The
Veloster comes loaded with a full suite of electronic brake control, traction
control, a vehicle stability management (VSM) system that manages the ESC
(electronic stability control) and the motor-driven power steering (MDPS) and,
in the Turbo model, active cornering control (ACC) that uses active individual
wheel braking to improve cornering grip and traction.

The
only other optional thing owners might consider adding to this already unique
vehicle is an optional matte grey paint job ($1,000), a first for Hyundai and a flat paint
finish with the kind of awesome street cred, usually only found on pricey
imports.

The Hyundai Veloster
is worth a look, in regular trim for those who simply like its style, or in
Veloster Turbo form for those who prefer a little performance edge added to
their fashion statement.

One
final note: at the time of writing this, Hyundai Canada was
offering leftover 2014 Veloster Turbo manual transmission models at prices
slashed by $7,000, an opportunity to acquire extra performance at bargain
prices.